Vehicular mounted food receptacle

ABSTRACT

A food receptacle attaches to either a left or right-hand door of an automobile and provides the occupants with convenient storage for food and change. A reversible drawer slides between two rails suspended below the body of the receptacle with the front of the drawer facing in either direction. To prevent the drawer from being pulled out of the rails, a projection is positioned to one side of the drawer and contacts one of two diametrically opposed protuberances on the receptacle body. When the drawer is reversed, the drawer projection contacts the other protuberance. A coin holder is attached to the front of the drawer and includes an aperture to receive coins. Any coins placed in the holder are trapped therein when the holder is positioned under the receptacle body. These coins will strike a projection on the body to prevent the drawer from being pushed out of the rails. Snap-off tabs are attached to the bottom of the receptacle and rest against the automobile door. Leveling of the receptacle is accomplished by snapping-off selected tabs, or sections of tabs. A flexible strap has an &#34;L&#34; shaped bracket at one end that can be inserted into the window pocket of an automobile door. The strap has two rows of slots. Hooks, attached to the receptacle, are inserted into selected slots.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of vehicular mounted receptacles andtrays, and more particularly to such devices that are removablyattachable to a door or window of an automobile.

Drivers and passengers frequently consume food and beverages whileriding in automobiles. Although vehicular mounted food receptacles andtrays have been known in the art for some time, it is rare for anautomobile to include such a convenience. These receptacles and traystypically mount to the window or window "pocket" (the recess in anautomobile door that contains a roll-up window and associated mechanism)of an automobile door. These devices are usually expensive tomanufacture and typically include relatively complex mechanisms formounting and leveling. Furthermore, these receptacles and trays areusually prohibitively large to remain attached to the automobile doorwhen not in use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, the invention is a food receptacle that includes a means forcontaining food and a means for attaching the food receptacle to thedoor of an automobile. A reversible drawer has a first projectionasymmetrically positioned to one side of the drawer. Means for slidablyattaching the drawer to the food containing means is provided. Connectedto opposite sides of the food containing means are second and thirdprojections. To prevent the drawer from being pulled out of itsattaching means, the second projection contacts the first projectionwhen the drawer is installed in a first direction. When the drawer isinstalled in the opposite direction, the third projection contacts thefirst projection to prevent the drawer from being pulled out of itsattaching means.

In another embodiment, the invention includes a coin holder that trapscoins and prevents the drawer from being pushed out of the foodreceptacle.

In another embodiment, the invention includes a leveling tab that hasfirst and second sections separated by a detent. The first section isattached to the food containing means. The second section can besnapped-off at the detent. When the food receptacle is attached to theautomobile door, the tab is positioned between the door and the foodcontaining means. When the second section of the tab has beensnapped-off, the first section contacts the door. If the second sectionhas not been snapped-off, then it contacts the door. Thus, the tabprovides a means to level the food receptacle.

In another embodiment, the invention includes a plurality of levelingtabs that are attached to the food containing means. Each of these tabshas a unique length and each includes a detent adjacent the foodcontaining means. Each tab can be selectively snapped-off at its detent.When the food receptacle is attached to the automobile door, the longesttab (the longest tab remaining after longer ones have been snapped-off)contacts the door. Thus, the tabs provide a means to level the foodreceptacle.

In still another embodiment, the food receptacle attacking meansincludes a flexible strap, and a means for attaching the strap to thedoor of an automobile. The strap has a plurality of slots, each spaced aunique distance from the strap attaching means. A hook means is attachedto the food containing means. The hook means connects the foodcontaining means to the flexible strap by engaging the hook means in oneof the slots in the strap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the vehicular mounted food receptacle ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the flexible strap.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the drawer.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the drawer installed between therails at the bottom of the food receptacle, as seen along line 4--4 ofFIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIG. 1, at least three alternate embodiments of the invention areillustrated. When referring to this figure, it should be remembered thatnot all elements illustrated in the figure coexist in any oneembodiment. Referring to this figure, a vehicular mounted foodreceptacle 100 has a food containing means 102 that includes asubstantially parallelepiped shaped open top container 104 and a cupholder 106. Cup holder 106 includes a slot 108 suitable for acceptingthe handle of a drinking cup. Although the preferred embodiment of foodcontaining means 102 includes open top container 104 and cup holder 106,other configurations are also possible; for example, the food containingmeans could be configured as a simple tray. Food containing means 102preferably has a substantially rectangular side 109 that includes fourcorners 109A-D. When food receptacle 100 is mounted to the door of anautomobile, side 109 normally faces the door.

In one embodiment of the invention, an "L" shaped bracket 110 isattached to the top of food containing means 102 at side 109. Foodreceptacle 100 attaches to the door of an automobile by inserting thevertical section 112 of bracket 110 into the window pocket of theautomobile door. Thus, bracket 110 provides a means for attaching foodreceptacle 100 to the door of an automobile.

A leveling tab 114 is attached to the bottom of food containing means102 near corner 109A, and includes a plurality of sections 116-119 thatare separated by detents 120-122. Detents 120-122 are designed such thatthe adjacent section 116, 117, 118 or 119 can be easily snapped-off,thereby shortening the overall length of tab 114. Although only oneleveling tab 114 is illustrated in FIG. 1, a second, substantiallyidentical tab is preferably attached near corner 109B. If only one tab114 is included, however, it should be centered between corners 109A andB, and preferably be wider than the one illustrated in the figure. Tabs124 and 126, hook 132 and guide 134 are not included in this embodiment.

When food receptacle 100 is attached to the door of an automobile, tab114 rests against the inside of the door. To level food receptacle 100,sections of the tab (and the second substantially identicalnon-illustrated tab), beginning with section 119, are snapped-off untilthe receptacle is level.

A second preferred embodiment of the invention also includes bracket110. In this embodiment, a plurality of tabs, e.g., 124 and 126, eachhaving a unique length, are attached to food containing means 102 in asimilar manner as tab 114. Each of the tabs 124 and 126 has a detent 128and 130 whereat the tab can be snapped-off. Leveling of this embodimentof food receptacle 100 is similar to that of the previously describedembodiment, however, rather than snapping-off the outer section of thetab, the longest tab 124 is snapped-off first. If further leveling isrequired, the shorter tab 126 can also be snapped-off. Although only twosuch tabs 124 and 126 are illustrated, more (or less) could be used;leveling being accomplished by breaking off the longest tab that's stillattached, until a level position is achieved. Although only one set oftabs (124 and 126) is illustrated, a second, substantially identical setis preferably attached to food containing means 102 near corner 109A.Tab 114, hook 132 and guide 134 are not included in this embodiment.

In a third embodiment, bracket 110 is eliminated and in its place, twohooks (only hook 132 is visible in the figure) are attached to the topof food containing means 102, one near each corner 109C and 109D. A "U"shaped guide 134 is attached to surface 109 below the hooks (e.g. 132),thereby forming a guide slot between surface 109 and guide 134.

Referring to FIG. 2, a flexible strap 202 includes two rows of slots 204and 206. Strap 202 is attached to a rigid or semi-rigid "L" shapedbracket 208 that includes two substantially perpendicular sections 208Aand B. Strap 202 is preferably attached to the inside surface of bracket208 (for example, by adhesive bonding) and that portion of strap 202that overlies section 208A includes an irregular surface 210. Irregularsurface 210 is preferably "sawtooth" shaped with each one of the "teeth"extending the full width of bracket 208. Irregular surface 210 can beconveniently molded into the surface of strap 202. In each row 206, theslots are positioned a unique distance from bracket 208.

To attach the third embodiment of the food receptacle to the door of anautomobile, section 208A of bracket 208 is first inserted into thewindow pocket of the automobile door. The sawteeth on irregular surface210 increase the insertion resistance of bracket section 208A, making itmore difficult to be removed from the window pocket. At this point,bracket section 208B is substantially horizontal, and flexible strap 202hangs down and conforms to the inside surface of the door. Next, thefood containing means 102 is attached to strap 202 by inserting thehooks (e.g., 132) into a selected pair of the strap slots, one from eachrow 204 and 206. If food containing means 102 does not hangsubstantially flush with the inside of the door, the hooks (e.g., 132)can be repositioned into a different pair of strap slots. To accommodatethe wide variation among commercially available motor vehicles in thedistance between the window pocket and the inside of the door, strap 202should be approximately 6 inches long. Any excess strap material thatextends below the hooks (e.g., 132) can be conveniently tucked in theguide slot between "U" shaped bracket 134 and food containing means 102.Although two hooks and two rows of slots are preferred, this embodimentcould also be construed with one hook centered between corners 109C andD, and one row of strap slots. Thus, the flexible strap and hooks alsoprovide a means for attaching the food receptacle to the door of anautomobile.

Returning to FIG. 1, two rails 136 and 138, open at both ends, aresuspended below the body of food containing means 102 and form a pocketinto which a drawer can be inserted from either direction. Twoprotuberances 140 and 142 (protuberance 142 is illustrated in FIG. 4only) are attached to the upper wall 144 of the drawer pocket (the lowersurface of the body of the food containing means) and are positioneddiametrically, i.e., diagonally, opposite each other and spaced equaldistances from the center line of the drawer pocket. Two recesses 146and 148 (recess 148 is visible in FIG. 4 only) are formed above thedrawer pocket at opposite ends of the food containing means. Recesses146 and 148 each have a back wall, 146A and 148A respectively.

Referring to FIG. 3, a drawer 302 has front and back walls 302A and Brespectively, and side walls 302C and D. Two notches 304 and 306 areformed at opposite sides of front wall 302A, and one notch 308 is formedtowards one side of back wall 302B. Notches 304, 306 and 308 are eachspaced the same distance from the center line of the drawer asprotuberances 140 and 142 are spaced from the center line of the drawerpocket. Note that there is no notch at location 310. As will beexplained in greater detail below, the portion of back wall 302B atlocation 310 functions as a "projection" that contacts protuberances 140and 142 to prevent the drawer from being pulled out of its pocket.

A coin holder 312 is attached to front wall 302A and includes asubstantially semi-cylindrical aperture 314 for receiving coins in anupright position. Two dividers 316A and B form three separate"chambers", and the diameter of aperture 314 in each chamber can bevaried to accommodate different sizes of coins; for example, nickels,dimes and quarters.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of food receptacle 100 showing drawer302 installed, in a first direction, between rails 136 and 138.Referring to this figure, drawer 302 is first installed in the drawerpocket by sliding it, coin holder end first, between rails 136 and 138.Drawer 302 is reversible, and the direction of installation illustratedin FIG. 4 (with coin holder 312 positioned towards recess 146) will bereferred to as the first direction. As the drawer is being installed inthe first direction, protuberance 142 slides through notch 306, andthereby presents no impediment to the installation of the drawer. If thedrawer is installed in the opposite direction, protuberance 140 slidesthrough notch 306.

In the normal operation of a drawer, the user typically grasps the frontof the drawer, here the coin holder, and pushes or pulls the drawer toopen or close it. To describe the operation of the reversible drawer,the terms "push" and "pull" will be used in their normal sense, with theterm "push" indicating movement in the direction from front 302A to back302B, and the term "pull" indicating movement in the direction from back302B to front 302A.

Drawer 302 and food receptacle 102 include means for preventing thedrawer from being pulled out of the drawer pocket, regardless of thedirection of installation. When drawer 302 is installed in the firstdirection, rear wall 302B strikes protuberance 140 at location 310 toprevent the drawer from being completely pulled out of the drawerpocket. It should be noted that when drawer 302 is installed in thefirst direction, the other protuberance 142 slides through notch 308 anddoes not interfere with the normal operation of the drawer. When drawer302 is installed in the opposite direction, rear wall 302B contactsprotuberance 142 at location 310, also preventing the drawer from beingpulled completely out of the drawer pocket. Similarly, protuberance 140does not interfere with the normal operation of drawer 302 because itslides through notch 308.

In operation, that portion of rear wall 302B at location 310 functionsas a "projection" that contacts one of the protuberances 140 or 142,depending on the direction of installation of the drawer, to prevent theunintentional removal of the drawer from its pocket. Other embodimentsof the invention could be envisioned that function in a similar manner,but don't utilize notches 304, 306 and 308. For example, drawer 302could include a tab or "projection" that would be attached to rear wall302B immediately above location 310. Walls 302A-D would be shorter inthis embodiment, so that they would clear protuberances 140 and 142 onthe upper surface 144 of the drawer pocket. When attempting to pull thedrawer out of the pocket, the projection would contact one of theprotuberances 140 or 142, just as the "projection" at location 310 ofback wall 302B does.

Drawer 302 and food containing means also include means to prevent thedrawer from being pushed out of the drawer pocket. Referring to FIG. 4,a coin 402 is shown positioned in the aperture of coin holder 312. Coin402 contacts the rear wall 146A of recess 146 to prevent the drawer frombeing pushed out of the drawer pocket. Also, when drawer 302 is pushedinto the drawer pocket far enough so that coin holder 312 is underrecess 146, the upper wall 146B of the recess traps coin 402 in therecess and prevents the coin from being jarred from the coin holder. Inaddition, some security is provided for coins that are placed in coinholder 312 because they are hidden from view by recess 146. When drawer302 is installed in the opposite direction, walls 148A and B of recess148 provide similar benefits.

One advantage of the previously described food receptacle is that it canbe easily and inexpensively manufactured in plastic by injectionmolding. In the embodiments of the invention that utilize bracket 110,only two parts are necessary: the food receptacle which includesintegrally molded leveling tabs and attaching bracket, and the drawer.Another advantage of the invention is that the food receptacle iscompact when not in use, but expandable by extending the drawer. Thusthe drawer becomes a convenient storage surface for a sandwich or thelike. The food receptacle can also be mounted on either left or righthand doors of an automobile because the expandable element, i.e. thedrawer, is reversible and can always be positioned towards the occupant.If this feature were not provided, the occupant would inconvenientlyhave to reach over food containing means 102 to get to the drawer if thefood receptacle were mounted on the "wrong" door of the automobile.

We claim as our invention:
 1. A food receptacle, comprising incombination:means for containing food; receptacle attaching means,connected to said food containing means, for attaching said foodreceptacle to the door of an automobile; a reversible drawer having afirst projection asymmetrically positioned towards one side of saiddrawer; means for slidably attaching said drawer to said food containingmeans; and second and third projections connected to opposite sides ofsaid food containing means, said second projection contacting said firstprojection to prevent said drawer from being pulled out of said drawerattaching means when said drawer is installed in said drawer attachingmeans in a first direction, and said third projection contacting saidfirst projection to prevent said drawer from being pulled out of saiddrawer attaching means when said drawer is installed in said drawerattaching means in a second direction.
 2. The food receptacle of claim1, further comprising:a coin holder connected to said drawer and havingan aperture for receiving coins, wherein coins placed in said apertureare trapped between said coin holder and said food containing means whensaid drawer is pushed into said drawer attaching means a predetermineddistance.
 3. The food receptacle of claim 2, further comprising:a fourthprojection connected to said food containing means, wherein said fourthprojection contacts coins placed in said aperture of said coin holder toprevent said drawer from being pushed out of said drawer attachingmeans.
 4. The food receptacle of claim 1, further comprising:a levelingtab having first and second sections separated by a detent whereat saidsecond section can be snapped-off, said first section being connected tosaid food containing means, said tab being positioned between said doorand said food containing means when said food receptacle is attached tosaid door, said second section contacting said door when said secondsection is attached to said tab and said first section contacting saiddoor when said second section has been snapped-off, said tab therebyproviding a means to level said food receptacle.
 5. The food receptacleof claim 1, comprising:a plurality of leveling tabs attached to saidfood containing means, each of said tabs having a unique length and eachincluding a detent adjacent said food containing means whereat said tabscan be selectively snapped-off, said tabs being positioned between saiddoor and said food containing means when said food receptacle isattached to said door, the longest of said tabs still attached to saidfood containing means contacting said door, said tabs thereby providinga means to level said food receptacle.
 6. The food receptacle of claim1, wherein said attaching means includes:strap attaching means forattaching a strap to the door of an automobile; a flexible strapattached to said strap attaching means, said strap including a pluralityof slots, each of said slots being spaced a unique distance from saidstrap attaching means; hook means, attached to said food containingmeans, for connecting said food containing means to said flexible strapby engaging said hook means in a selected one of said slots of saidstrap.
 7. The food receptacle of claim 6, wherein:said strap attachingmeans includes an "L" shaped bracket including first and secondsubstantially perpendicular sections, said first section including anirregular surface, said first section for insertion into the windowpocket of said automobile door.